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What games used batteries, and which used Flash?

Cloud121 - Oct 10, 2004

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		Cloud121		Oct 10, 2004
			Hey guys, any of you know which games used batteries, and which games used Flash ROM for saving data? Where can I get a list of 'em?

		Berty		Oct 10, 2004
			I don't know of a listing but i believe shinning force 1 and 2 both used battery back-ups. I have them here so ill have to check. Sonic 3 used a flash rom (i think)

		ExCyber		Oct 10, 2004
			The vast majority of games with a save feature used battery-backed SRAM. A handful used serial EEPROM (Megaman: The Wily Wars, one of the Wonderboy games, and NBA Jam Tournament Edition if I'm not mistaken), and a few more used ferroelectric RAM (I think Sonic 3 falls into this category).

		Cloud121		Oct 10, 2004
			Phantasy Star IV uses a battery? Damn...

		fonzievoltonov		Oct 10, 2004
			" ferroelectric RAM" What is this? I think that TopGear2 uses a special saving freature like 2 or 4 bit "electrical controlable switchs" only. Because when you restart the game from the start, all previous password are no more useable.

		ExCyber		Oct 10, 2004
			From what I understand (and this could be a bit wrong), FRAM is based on a kind of phase-change capacitor/battery cell. Charging the cell causes the dielectric to crystalize. Reading works by discharging the cell and using sense amps to detect the current to tell whether or not the cell was charged, and then writing the value back again. The big advantages of this over flash are that FRAM can have an SRAM-like interface (because unlike flash reads and writes take the same amount of time), and that the write tolerance is vastly higher than flash (billions of writes vs. 100,000 - 1,000,000 with flash). The main disadvantages right now are density and cost.

it290

Oct 10, 2004

	
	
		
		
			Phantasy Star IV uses a battery?



Damn... damn.gif

What's the trouble?

		Cloud121		Oct 10, 2004
			Just afraid my battery might die someday.

		it290		Oct 10, 2004
			Well, it will, but it's super-easy to replace.

		Melf		Oct 12, 2004
			What exactly do you need to do to replace one? I'd love to learn so I can make an attempt on some old dead carts I have. That'd make a good FAQ to put up.

		it290		Oct 12, 2004
			Well, really, you just need the battery (CR2032), and some way to get the cartridge open, like a 4.5mm 'game bit'. A soldering iron is handy, too. Some people use the batteries that have solder tabs already attached, but personally, I go for the non-solder (aka lazy) method..open up the cartridge, pry the battery off the tabs, and stick a new one in with electrical tape.

~SuperSonic~

Oct 27, 2004

	
	
		
		
			Originally posted by ExCyber@Mon, 2004-10-11 @ 12:15 AM



From what I understand (and this could be a bit wrong), FRAM is based on a kind of phase-change capacitor/battery cell. Charging the cell causes the dielectric to crystalize. Reading works by discharging the cell and using sense amps to detect the current to tell whether or not the cell was charged, and then writing the value back again. The big advantages of this over flash are that FRAM can have an SRAM-like interface (because unlike flash reads and writes take the same amount of time), and that the write tolerance is vastly higher than flash (billions of writes vs. 100,000 - 1,000,000 with flash). The main disadvantages right now are density and cost.



[post=120715]Quoted post[/post]

Is it unreliable?

I have a Sonic 3 cart with a save feature that doesnt work.

		ExCyber		Oct 27, 2004
			It should be more reliable in principle, but realistically subtle manufacturing defects are probably more likely since it's a relatively young technology.

		Quakester2000		Oct 27, 2004
			I thought on some cartridges the battery was recharged by the console?

genisus man

Nov 20, 2004

	
	
		
		
			Originally posted by RolfWrenWalsh@Sun, 2004-10-10 @ 01:08 PM



batteries? Um, where do the carts go? My god iv had my genisus for about 8/10 years, and i still don;t know about the save feature i thought they didnt even have one! So witch port on the genisus is the place for carts to be saved on?



Hey guys, any of you know which games used batteries, and which games used Flash ROM for saving data?



Where can I get a list of 'em?



[post=120691]Quoted post[/post]

		lordofduct		Nov 21, 2004
			WHAT ARE YOU TALKIN ABOUT??? some games have save features, like Phantasy Star or ummm, Sonic 3 yeah thats a game you probably played that used a save feature.... theres no "port"! [EDIT] okay okay, i have to admit... i thought your SN was genius man! but i was then wondering WHY would it be genius?! then i noticed its genesis, i mean genisus! And youve had your genny for 10 years? arent you like 13 or something? holy bejebus, i didnt think the genny controller would fit in a 3 year olds hands.

		genisus man		Nov 21, 2004
			no sorry i got it when i was um... 4 or maybe 5. I don't remember. But, about the batterie and ram thing, where are the ports on the genny? I cant find them! O and mine is the version with the long, rectangular buttons on ether top side.

		j_factor		Feb 20, 2005
			What save method was generally used in the games that don't really have a game save, just a basic high score table?

		it290		Feb 20, 2005
			None. I can't really think of any Genesis games that just save the highscore.

		j_factor		Feb 21, 2005
			Street Fighter, arcade compilations, etc.

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